WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- The largest union for federal employees has called for the release of two U.S. Border Patrol agents imprisoned for shooting a Mexican drug courier.
The American Federation of Government Employees asked President Bush to pardon Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, two former Border Patrol agents convicted of assault, firearms, obstruction and civil rights offenses after they shot and wounded the courier as he fled back into Mexico, and then covered up the incident.
In a letter released Tuesday, John Gage, the union's national president, wrote, "A review of the facts has convinced us that (Ramos and Compean's) punishment is inappropriate."
The conviction "sent the wrong message to drug smugglers," and "has demoralized the Border Patrol and compromised the security of the nation."
While on duty in February 2005, Ramos and Compean shot Osbaldo Aldrete-Davila, a Mexican national who was driving a van containing some 743 pounds of marijuana across the U.S. border.
"There were three eyewitnesses to the event -- Ramos, Compean, and Aldrete-Davila -- and in the end, a known drug smuggler's word was taken over those of two U.S. border patrol agents. With that precedent, other border patrol agents are going to think twice when it comes to defending our borders. And that's not a risk worth taking," Gage added.
According to a report released by the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, investigators found "Compean and Ramos did not report the shooting as required by (Border Patrol) regulations, and instead covered up the crime scene by removing the spent shell casings that were ejected from their pistols during the shooting."
After a two-week federal trial, both men were convicted by a Texas jury and sentenced to 11- and 12-year sentences, respectively, which they began to serve in January.
The case has become something of a cause celebre among conservatives in Texas, and has landed the homeland security's Inspector General Richard Skinner in political hot water.
Prior to the trial, his investigators privately briefed lawmakers that the agents had said they "wanted to shoot some Mexicans" the morning of the incident and had confessed their guilt. Last week, however, Skinner admitted that his office had no such information, leading to as for his resignation.
